Factors Leading to Malaysia Airlines Underperformance

Running head: RESEARCH DESIGN PROPOSAL
A Study of Factors Leading to Malaysia Airlines Underperformance
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1RESEARCH DESIGN PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
Component 2: Research Design Proposal........................................................................................2
1.0 Background.......................................................................................................................2
1.1 Purpose and problem statement.............................................................................................3
1.2 Research questions.................................................................................................................3
1.3 Research objectives...............................................................................................................4
1.4 Research framework..............................................................................................................4
2.0 Research Methodology..........................................................................................................5
2.1 Research methods..............................................................................................................5
2.2 Sampling methods.............................................................................................................9
2.3 Data collection.................................................................................................................10
2.4 Data analysis....................................................................................................................10
2.5 Ethical issues...................................................................................................................11
3.0 Gantt chart...........................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................15
Appendix 1.....................................................................................................................................19
Survey questionnaire.................................................................................................................19

2RESEARCH DESIGN PROPOSAL
Component 2: Research Design Proposal
1.0 Background
Malaysia has its origin in the Malay Kingdoms whose capital is Kuala Lumpur that has
Malaysian as the official and national language. However, English is a recognized language in
the country with ethnic groups such as Indian, Chinese and Bumiputera as the majority. Malaysia
is ranked 9th in the world for tourist arrivals and according to the Travel and Tourism
Competitiveness Report, Malaysia ranks 25th out of 141 countries, that is the fifth best in Asia.
This suggests higher demand and need of having a secured aviation industry and companies.
Malaysia Airlines is one of oldest found and operating airline company in Malaysia whose
underperformance is studied by conducting this research design (Ft.com 2019).
Malaysia Airlines was founded on 1 May 1971 and started operating on 1st October 1972.
This airline operates flights from Kuala Lumpur International Airport along with secondary hubs
in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching to destinations throughout Asia, Europe and Oceania. Malaysia
Airlines is the flag carrier of Malaysia and a member of the one world airline alliance and
headquarter of Malaysia Airlines is located in Kuala Lumpur. The existing workforce of
Malaysia Airlines is 14,000 with a net income of 60 million MYR and profit of 18 million MYR.
The different subsidiaries of Malaysia Airlines are Firefly, MASwings and MASkargo with a
fleet size of 81 operating within 64 destinations. The Malaysia Airlines has a history of accidents
and disasters that has resulted in the underperformance of the company in the aviation industry.
Previously, the aviation sector had limited companies offering flights that have changed recently.
In today’s aviation section competition has increased greatly, as rise in the number of business

3RESEARCH DESIGN PROPOSAL
organization in this sector has been noticed (Shahzadi et al. 2014). Therefore, there are different
factors that have led to the underperformance of the Malaysia Airlines.
1.1 Purpose and problem statement
The purpose of the literature review is to study the factors leading to Malaysia Airlines
underperformance. Continuous and consistent issues have been identified in respect to Malaysia
Airlines over the past years that have questioned the survival of the company in the highly tough
and competitive market. For instance, 2014 was the year that dawned darkness over Malaysia
Airlines, as disasters struck twice on the company. Flight MH370 and flight MH17 met with
severe accidents that resulted in the death of the passengers and the crewmembers completely.
Additionally, the financial stability of the company has also been questioned, as the disasters
affected the financial performance of the company and threatened its survival in the aviation
industry (Aljazeera.com 2019). Moreover, the job security of the employees of Malaysia Airlines
is another problem that has been identified as one of the potential causes of organizational
underperformance. Lack of job security is forcing the employees to look for alternatives due to
which the company is losing experienced, skilled and qualified employees that would have been
an asset for the company (Ft.com 2019).
1.2 Research questions
The questions of the research are:
 What do you mean by underperformance of an organization?
 What are the factors leading to underperformance of Malaysia Airlines?
 What are the challenges that Malaysia Airlines is encountering due to underperformance?

4RESEARCH DESIGN PROPOSAL
Organizational underperformance
Job security
Disengaged employees
Staff motivationOver saturated market
 What are the suitable recommendations for improving the underperformance of Malaysia
Airlines?
1.3 Research objectives
The objectives of the research are:
 To understand the concept of underperformance
 To study the factors leading to underperformance of Malaysia Airlines
 To analyze the challenges that Malaysia Airlines is encountering due to
underperformance
 To provide suitable recommendations for improving the underperformance of Malaysia
Airlines
1.4 Research framework

5RESEARCH DESIGN PROPOSAL
Research framework
(Source: Created by the Author)
2.0 Research Methodology
2.1 Research methods
The research method chapter is developed with the aim of shedding light on the different
methodological tools those are considered while undertaking a research. As a result, this chapter
will provide a brief overview of the existing types of methodological tools that will be used for a
research. The researcher has to emphasize on the philosophical stances, designs, strategies and
approach and research administrations for undertaking the study in a conclusive and authentic
manner. In addition to, this section will highlight the most suitable data collection method that
will help in improving the quality of the study conducted. Moreover, the section also justifies the
selection of the specific research methodologies that intend to help study the factors that led to
the underperformance of Malaysia Airlines.
Research philosophy
Research philosophies is defined as the set of approaches that facilitates the collection of
relevant data for undertaking the study. Three main philosophies those are used for undertaking a
research and completing it successfully includes positivism, pragmatism and interpretivism. As
mentioned by Kumar (2019), positivism philosophy facilitates observing and describing specific
phenomenon from the viewpoint of the research objectives. Due to this, it is necessary to restrict
the interference of the phenomenon in the study. This provides an opportunity to restrict
repetition of the observation. Additionally, positivism philosophy allows using logic and facts for
developing knowledge and making observations. On the other hand, pragmatism philosophy